Your First Doll Stories- The Most Treasured, a Disappointment, or Something Else?

My first BJD was a Mir by Elfdoll. I had only known about BJDs for a year or so. I didn't know how to use a computer back then. I am terrified of machines and technology. But I taught myself to use a computer in order to research BJDs, I wanted one so. I only knew one person who had a BJD, Aimee, and she was incredibly helpful and generous and kind, giving me information and telling me where to look online for dolls. It was love at first sight, he was so much more beautiful than any other doll I had seen. I went and looked at him every day for months until I had saved up enough money. With my friends help I ordered him , and she helped me order everything he would need: eyes, and wig, and shoes. I made him an outfit before he arrived. She helped me track his shipping, I scheduled the day off work so I would be home when he arrived. I bolted out the door when I heard the mailman arrive, and probably scared him to death. I feel so sorry for people who are disappointed in their first doll. He was so exquisite, even more beautiful in person than the photos I had seen. I had never seen one completely undressed, so the suprise to me was that he was, ah, so realistically male in every detail! Giggle! I did not know they were anatomically correct! How cool! Five years later, I am still just as in love with him. He was my first, and for many years only BJD.... I think I have made him maybe a couple of dozen costumes. I never get tired of looking at him. A few months after I got him, I got laid off my job, and ended up moving back home to take care of my mother who was very ill, and has since died of lung cancer. I took care of her 24/7 for four years. I was without paying work , completely broke. I never even considered selling him. I would never under any circumstances consider selling him. He is my first and the best beloved of my BJDs. He gets new face ups occasionally, he changes his look, he used to have long black hair and dark brown eyes and be (usually ) an ancient Egyptian, currently he has short white spiked hair and light green eyes and wears tie dye t-shirts and jeans, or pseudo "Lord of the Rings" elven costume. I have a couple of other dolls now, also one on layaway, and one I plan to purchase next month, but he will always be special to me.

 

My first doll was an impulse buy. I'd been saving for my grail doll when I saw that Angelheim was having a (very, very good) sale on their dolls, and I'd been considering an Angelheim Ryan for another character for some time so I jumped at the chance to buy him. While I was waiting for him to arrive I started having second thoughts about the purchase because not only had I spent all the money I'd saved towards my grail doll on him, I hadn't really thought the purchase through too carefully. I wasn't sure if he was right for the character that, at that time, I hadn't even figured out completely yet. But when finally arrived it was pretty much love at first sight and I can't imagine any other doll bringing me quite as much pleasure as he does (though I have a feeling he and my grail will be fighting for my attention once I finally get him lol)

 

My first doll was Elfdoll K. I'd known about BJD for over 3 years before I got him, and when I finally had enough money to get my first doll (back in 2009), I started looking online and fell in love with Elfdoll K. When I found one for sale on eBay I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. I bought him from his previous owner and then I waited. Finally he came home. When I first got him, I was fascinated with him, but I quickly grew frustrated with a lot of things about him. Actually, I almost decided not to go any further in the hobby because of my experience with my first doll. I must say he was very disappointing to me, and I almost lost interest entirely. I still have my K, but he's currently looking for a new home.

 

My first doll was an Elfdoll Lydia who I'd really liked for a long time. She fit all the criteria that I was looking for in a BJD at the time. I loved her for years & when I got bored with her, I enhanced her face-up & fell in love again. But eventually my style changed & I sold her to buy someone more inline with what I wanted then.

Sometimes I regret selling her since she was my first but as I look at my collection now, she just wouldn't quite fit in.

 

My first doll should have been an Elfdoll Lydia too. I had found her body secondhand and bought it first, planning to get the head seperately a little later. Sadly, that never happened. The body got lost in the mail and all I received in the end was the box it had initially been in, half ripped to shreds.
Even though it was insured, I was only able to get a fraction of what I paid for it back, since the seller had marked the value of the contents down (I didn't ask for this), and because I was young and had never dealt with anything like this before I let it go. It taught me a few valuable lessons though. I always make extra sure to make it clear I want insurance for the full value for example.

The first doll that I actually got later on in the same year was also purchased secondhand - my Limho Mono - and he is still here with me. I don't plan to ever change this, even if I should leave the hobby, I really don't think I could part with him (and maybe one or two of the others). He didn't really start out as one of my absolute favorites to be honest, never even fit in all that well. But he still turned out to be my most treasured by now.
I also remember getting an adorable little note from his previous owner in his box, that I still keep with his paperwork, saying that they hope he has found his last home with me.

He has.

 

I chose my first doll because he was the one that stood out the most to me. In a sea of pretty bits of 3D art work I found him to be the one with the most character.

When he arrived he was everything I'd hoped he'd be and more. 6 years and 6 more dolls later and I still wouldn't ever even consider selling him. Although some of the bond comes from the fact that he was my first, and some of it comes from the large amount of time he's been with me, I still admire his sculpt and think he's one of the most beautiful dolls I've ever seen. I love all of my dolls, but I don't think I'd be as upset about losing them as I would be if something happened to Ces.

 

i bought my first doll second hand and cheap (bobobie isabella) and was so excited to actually hold her in my hands, yet at the same time she was kind of.... meh..... She has since grown on me and i would not give her up for the world!

 

My first doll I bought in an impulsive mood, so she came blank, with no clothing and no wig, and while she was bought that way, I'd not sell her for the world now we have got over the whole headbutting thing she did to me when I first received her.
Though when she first got here, I had a hard time bonding with her because she was blank. Two wigs and a (shoddy) face-up later, she is she is just as loved as two of my other dolls (the 4th one is explained just under this)

My first Elf doll (ResinSoul Mei, bought around the same time) is one I'm still trying to find a proper character for, as I keep looking at her, and she isn't the character I thought she was (she also probably needs restringing, as her legs are very kicky, so I've not played with her enough to know what she is actually like yet).

 

I love my Clara so much, just looking at her now my heart gave a thump of joy. She's an SD Island Doll Amy and she's just so perfect, other dolls will come and go but Clara is just never leaving my side.

 

as im new to the hobby I only have one doll but I love her I would never sell her and if she broke I don't know what I would do

 

The event that made me first realise I wanted to own a BJD was seeing Soom's Beryl and Sard. I'd never been really interested in dolls until that point, but those sculpts were just so breathtaking that I knew I had to own them.

Except I discovered them a full year after they had sold out

So I looked at all of Soom's other dolls, saw that they weren't afraid to release more hooved limited editions, and decided to wait and see if they'd release anything else that would remind me enough of Beryl or Sard to want them. Heliot and Amber both almost snagged me, but it was Cuprit who completely stole my heart. As soon as her full photos went up, I knew I was getting her. And I only lasted one day into her two-week ordering period before I caved and put her on layaway.

Then I had a long wait. I bought her on a six month layaway, and Soom takes 3 months to produced dolls once they're paid off. I ordered her in March, and didn't see her until December. She was worth every moment of the wait.

So I guess I can safely say I'm in the 'I treasure my first doll and wasn't disappointed at all by her when she first arrived' category

 

I did my research before purchasing my first BJD , it was not an impulse buy ....looked and 1000th of pictures , read reviews on mobility , durability and general feedbacks on how well people bond with certain dolls . And after full year - narrowed down my search to Fairy Land Minifee Chloe - full set . And she is beautiful ! No matter what other dolls I get , she is always my " baby ".

With abilaty of changing face ups , wigs and eyes - I don't understand how people can get tiered of a doll ....unless you do not like the sculpt to begin with . If I ever decide to sell my collection - my Chloe will stay with me

 

My first doll is a CP dreaming Lishe boy. I wanted to get El first, but I wanted El twins, so when there was a local Luts GO, I decided to buy a Lishe head and male body instead of the El (I was only halfway done saving up for 2 dolls aka El twins, which was enough for my Lishe). I guess it was sort of impulsive, but at the same time I thought really long about it, because I was new to the hobby then, and I had to save up really hard to buy anything, so it probably wasn't impulsive, lol. But when he first arrived, I was really happy, despite the crappy faceup I gave him. Haha. About a year in, I had issues with him, because he just wasn't right, somehow, as the character, and I was more interested in slightly more realistic sculpts like Migi. Plus he is white skinned, which I realise I don't like that much when taking photos. It got to the point where I considered reshelling him as a NS Migi Jina boy, but luckily, I decided to give it a try and sent him off for a new faceup. I wasn't particularly overwhelmed by the faceup at first, but with the new faceup, he grew back on me, and now, even though I don't always play with him (always occupied by my newer dolls ><), he still has a special place. Just the other day, I took him out of his box, and I was so so so HAPPY to see him, I didn't even know why.

 

RS Mei was my first doll. I fell in love with her face and loved to see all the owners' pictures. Once I received her, she was even more beautiful in person. I'll probably end up getting her a double jointed body since I love the posability of my second doll, but other than that won't change anything about her and don't see myself ever letting her go.

 

I had wanted to buy DOT Ducan as my first doll. I still love him a lot and want him, but when I was saving money, I had no job, or steady source of income. And my family was only willing to contribute at Christmas. I needed $535 + shipping for him. I had never had to raise that kind of money before. I was a little over halfway there, and one day as I was admiring Ducan, I looked around the site a little and saw the DOC Twins Kirill and Ivan. My friend at the time wanted t make twin characters with me and these were the sculpts we decided on. I picked Kirill because I just loved everything about him. And then I noticed the price. I wanted a doll so bad that I gave up on saving for Ducan and got kirill instead. Sometimes, I wish that I did save for Ducan, because I had a falling out with that friend and I had no desire for the doll anymore. But I just couldn't get rid of him, so I changed his character so that I would be okay with keeping him. I feel that he was a good way to start and now I can't wait to have him in his finished condition.

 

My first was an El. He just screamed he was my character and that was that. So I got him. He is my favorite, my baby, and he's not going anywhere. Now after I die...who knows? Maybe to the grave since I have no one to give him to.

 

Well my first dolls story is a bit of all those things, great and disappointing.

I'd benign saving about 6 months for my first doll and I was paying off my PC at the time and wanted for get my debt all paid up first. I bought her clothes and wig first and really obsessed about her for months. On the day she arrived I opened the box to discover the doll inside was not the doll I ordered. :/ I was really sad but I really fell for her in her own rite. I decided to give her the character I was planning for my second doll and I've never regretted keeping her and saving for my dream doll all over again.

I got her very close to Fireworks/Guy Fawkes night in the UK so I remember taking her outside to watch the fireworks from my garden. She had some clothes on that my mum had quickly made for her and a little beanie hat because she was bald. I remember feeling a very special bond with her and feeling very content. Knowing I had a true companion with me.

 

I bought my first doll when I was 14 I think, I'm 22 now and I still love him and adore him, I will admit that the new beauties do detract attention from him sometimes but he is the ever conscious presence. We did absolutely everything together, I took him everywhere even though my family would laugh at me cause I was grown up and still playing with dolls

But I just loved him so much, I think it's because of all the hard work I put into saving for him. He really wasn't that expensive and I only knew about DOD....but I would wash people's cars, hunt in the couch for lost change, anything I could do to get my precious boy, and I got him! Years later it turns out that my grandmother (who's credit card I used) actually bought him for me and saved my money for me for when I was older. Which makes him an extra special, but unknown gift!

My very good friend of the time however bought a DOD Zen and when she got him I could see her struggling to like him, she changed his eyes, cut his wig, but still she didn't like him. And when she scratched his wrist trying to change his hands shed had enough and sold him to another good friend of mine. He was still in the dolly family so it all worked out and her second doll was her 'WOW' doll.

 

The first doll that I bought was a Dollshe Saint back in December of 2010. I expected to receive him the following spring. July rolled around and still nothing from Dollshe. I had just gotten MP access, so I did a quick search for a Soom Amber, who was my grail doll. I wasn't expecting to buy one, nor even see one for sale, but I wanted to see what she had sold for so I could start saving. But there she was. A fullset, just like I had wanted, with a gorgeous custom faceup that had matching blushed fantasy parts. I had just enough in my account to pay for her in full, and would be making more over the summer while I was working, so I took that opportunity. When she arrived, I was blown away at how beautiful she was. She was the first BJD that I had ever seen or held in person, so I consider her to be my first doll. Well, fast-forward to the Spring of 2012, my Dollshe Saint arrived, and I was relieved that he had finally made it home, but the excitement was gone. I finally bonded with him this summer after I sent off to AngelToast. She captured the character I had envisioned perfectly, and I'm happy to say that both dolls are still with me and they are definitely among my most treasured dolls

 

My first BJD was an Obitsu Gretel...she was sort of foisted on me by a friend who was eager for me to learn to do faceups, (since she knew I was very artistic.) This was at a time when I was brand new to BJDs and didn't know anything about them other than just seeing a few. This friend insisted on putting this particular doll (not my choice) on her credit card, and then I paid her back in cash and many, many faceups. She was a lovely doll however, so I eagerly threw myself into making her my particular artistic vision. I did her faceup, bought her pretty green realistic eyes, made her a beautiful strawberry blonde wig from mohair, made her elaborate jewelry and a headpiece, and designed a gorgeous forest fay gown for her with a lavish cape. She was absolutely perfect to the artistic fairy vision I'd initially had for her...alas, too perfect! Once she was finally complete, I stood her on my work table and told myself "Taa-daa!" And then promptly realized I'd "painted myself into a corner"...I would never feel right changing anything about her (she was like a work of art, never to be altered.) This totally ruined it for me because I need to play with my dolls by continuing to be creative with them. So I sold her and never looked back.